One of Italy’s finest tenors has died at the age of 90. Carlo Bergonzi will forever be associated with the music of Verdi, to which he brought an essentially lyric voice with the ability to push upwards (spinto). He was awarded Gramophone's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000 and at the ceremony not only sang a Neapolitan song (accompanied at the piano by Antonio Pappano) but joined Angela Gheorghiu in the Brindisi from Verdi’s La traviata (Pappano conducting the ECO).

Born in Vidalenza, near Parma, Bergonzi studied - as a baritone – at the Parma Conservatory an then at the Boito Conservatory (during the war he was a German prisoner of war and interned). He made his debut in the baritone role of Figaro in Rossini’s opera. He would also sing a number of baritone parts that included Rigoletto (when he replaced Tito Gobbi), Germont (La traviata), Marcello (Bohème) and Belcore (L’elisir d’amore).

After returning to study, he emerged as a tenor in 1951 as Andrea Chenier in Bari. He would also appear in a number of early Verdi operas marking the centenary of the composer’s death in 1951 (works he would champion later in his career). His debut at La Scala followed in 1953 (in the premiere of Jacopo Napoli’s Mas’Aniello). The following year he would sing in London for the first time as Alvaro in La forza del destino. Other major debuts followed: Lyric Opera, Chicago (1955), the Met (Aida in 1956), Philadelphia (Aida, 1961), and in 1962 he made his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (again as Alvaro).

His training served him well, giving him power and longevity but never at the expense of a sweet legato line, near-perfect diction and beauty of sound. His many recordings, often for Decca and Philips, capture his voice in fine condition, and enshrine all his major Verdi roles. In 1976 he recorded 31 arias from every major Verdi opera. He cut back his operatic appearances in the 1980s and concentrated on recitals, though in 2000, aged 75, he took part in  concert performance of Verdi’s Otello and while he had to withdraw mid-performance, a recording of the dress rehearsal does survive.

After retirement Bergonzi continued to teach, ran a Verdi singing competition (Concorso internazionall di voci verdiane) and ran a hotel in Bussetto.